Less than one month after the tragic Las Vegas shooting, the two biggest machine gun shoots in the world took place in America. One at the Knob Creek range in Kentucky. The other at the Big Sandy range near Wikieup, Arizona.

Approximately two million rounds were fired at the events by hundreds of fully automatic machine guns and a few dozen artillery guns. Dynamite, diesel and fireworks were ignited by tracer rounds, filling the sky with smoke and thunder.

Despite all of this intense firepower, not a single person was hurt or injured. Spectators come from all over the world to attend the events. They rent a machine guns and blow stuff up.

There are few countries on earth that lawfully allow its citizens to own machine guns and artillery. It is uniquely American.

I spoke to a few spectators and organizers at both events about this unique right.

Jakob Lefevre, a spectator from Belgium attending the Big Sandy shoot, told me: “There’s a few countries in Europe where people still actually have the right to keep and bear arms. Where I live in Belgium, it’s more like a priviledge. You gotta jump through a lot of hoops before you’re actually allowed to own any type of firearm.”

Mal Gregg, a spectator from Australia, who included the Big Sandy shoot on a road trip across the US with his two sons, said: “The rules are way more strict in Australia. They want to get rid of all of our guns. And I say to you guys in the US, you know like, if you can keep this, just go for your life. Don’t let them take your guns.”

At the Knob Creek shoot, a spectator named Olaf from the Netherlands, responded to me asking him if there are machine gun shoots in his country. “No, we cannot do that at home. It’s not allowed. There are no automatic guns allowed. Government regulations.”

Kenton Tucker, one of the organizers of the Big Sandy shoot, who is an American, told me: “The anti-gunners and what have you, will always come after guns, no matter what you do. When you lose a right to own something, you will never get it back. Ever. So, if anybody out there thinks that, oh, let’s pass another gun control law, it’s for the best. It doesn’t work that way. They always add something to bill, or whatever they’re trying to get through congress. Then you end up with nothing. Your guns go away.”